Slovak president's address: Slovakia has become "respected" state.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Slovak President Rudolf Schuster has stressed that Slovakia is capable of ensuring security of its citizens, unlike some states emerged in the same period as the independent Slovak Republic. He also expressed hope that the new government would efficiently tackle corruption. Concluding his New Year's message, Schuster noted that Slovakia had gained respect throughout the world. The following is an excerpt from an address broadcast by Slovak radio on 1 January:

[Announcer] You can now listen to Slovak President Rudolf Schuster's New Year address:

[Slovak President Rudolf Schuster]... Unfortunately it is not possible and for quite a lot of time to come it will not probably be possible for the Slovak Republic's president to address citizens with an entirely optimistic statement...

We are not going through easy times, either as a part of the world or as people responsible for what has been going on in our motherland. We are also often lacking patriotism...

The state should also behave responsibly towards its citizens. I am saying this to make us all aware of the fact that, besides other things, unlike some other states which have emerged at about the same time as we did, our country guarantees its inhabitants' security. In our country we have learnt relatively fast to co-exist and cooperate with minorities, groups holding different views and with our neighbours. I would not like to embark on simplifying but recalling some bloody ethnic conflicts I am justly proud of our maturity.

Dear fellow citizens, last November in Prague we were invited to join NATO. This was a significant step taken by our republic as a step on our return among the highly developed democratic countries of the world...